Kris Wu's accuser Du Meizhu enters showbiz with lead role, criticism reaches even her male co-star

Du Meizhu got her 15 seconds of fame after exposing Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu of sexual misconduct.

Now, she's getting flak for cashing in on her popularity.

Rumour has it that 20-year-old acting school graduate was preparing to enter showbiz.

Then on Sunday (Jan 29), a Weibo entertainment account revealed the male and female leads of Chinese web drama Young Female Genius Detective, who are Li Yichen and Meizhu respectively.

The post read: "Since the Kris Wu incident, Du Meizhu did become popular for a bit. After all it takes some skill to take down such a huge star."

However, the post also pointed out that Yichen bears some physical similarity to Kris.

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"Isn't the male lead the same type as Kris Wu? Maybe Du Meizhu picked her own male lead," it read.

Netizens had their own comments on this and they were rather negative.

One accused her of "gaining fame from her 'victim persona'" while another recalled that "[Meizhu] said she wanted to be an ordinary person and not enter showbiz".

The end of Chinese showbiz was also signalled by one netizen with the casting of someone "with such an AI-altered common influencer face".

Another comment read: "The bar to acting is so low that it is scary."

Since the beginning of last year, Meizhu was rumoured to be going through a huge transformation — losing weight, practising dance, going through teeth-corrective surgery — all to pave her way into showbiz.

A star is born? Guess we'll have to wait and see.

ALSO READ: ‘Friends were bribed to turn against me’: Kris Wu rape victim makes moving post in wake of his jailing

jolynn.chia@asiaone.com

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